


Not A Slayer Anymore

by afteriwake



Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angry Willow Rosenberg, Buffy Isn't A Slayer, Buffy Wishverse, Buffy is Normal, Cordelia's Wish, Gen, Larry is The Slayer, Male Slayers, Past Angel/Willow Rosenberg, Past Character Death, People Change People, Sunnydale (BtVS), Time Travel, Vampire Rupert Giles, Vampire Slayer(s), Wishes, Wishverse Buffy Is A Bitch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-21 02:39:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17034950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: Cordelia wishes that Buffy wished she wasn't the Slayer, instead of wishing that Buffy never came to town.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I started this years ago (I'm not exaggerating here) and it's been bugging me the last few months. I really want to finish this one. So this post is the accumulation of what I had already written and we'll pick it up afterward. Maybe.

Anyanka sat on the ground, beneath the tree of the Slayer's house. She looked up, not sure what to do. Something like this had never happened before, in all of her years as a vengeance demon.

She heard a song drifting out from the kitchen window, where the Slayer's mother was baking something. The Slayer didn't notice. She never noticed the small things her mother did for her, not since she had to send her lover away through that portal.

And now he was back, and things were just as confusing for her as ever.

_Listen to the wind on the water_   
_Listen to the waves upon the shore_   
_Try to sleep, sleep won't come_   
_Just as I begin to fade_

Anyanka shrugged, standing up. Cordelia had made her wish: she wished Buffy could wish herself out of being the Slayer. It was time to make that wish come true, but only if Buffy wished it.

Cordelia just should have wished Buffy never came to town, Anyanka thought, heading for the house. Or maybe the girl had it right after all; at least this way, when the universe changed, there'd still be a Slayer.

_Then I remember_   
_When the moon was full and bright_   
_I would take you in the darkness_   
_And do the tango in the night_   
_Tango..._

She paused at the door. In a way, Cordelia's wish affected the one person who really had nothing to do with this. Anyanka shouldn't knock on the door and ask to see Buffy, to tell her about her wish. She should just go to the next woman.

But...a wish was a wish.

_I keep the dream in my pocket_   
_Never let it fade away_   
_Inside, outside_   
_No loneliness in this dream_

Still, Anyanka thought as she continued to listen to the song, Cordelia had every right to wish her wish, even if it did change Buffy's life forever. Fair was fair after all.

Anyanka glanced inside to the woman doing to baking. At least the Slayer's mother may not have to worry about her daughter so much anymore.

And she could listen to the music without having to worry about whether her daughter was really safe or not, whether she was fighting the dark anymore.

_Then I remember_   
_When the moon was full and bright_   
_I would take you in the darkness_   
_And do the tango in the night_   
_Tango..._

**\---**

All Buffy remembered was that weird girl Anya coming by and telling her she had to make a wish. She just, off the top of her head, wished she wasn't a Slayer.

But that couldn't be true! She'd prove it to herself, somehow. She _was_ the Slayer.

**\---**

"Morning, honey," Joyce said as she poked her head in through Buffy's door. "How was the party last night?"

"What party?"

"The one at Jason's house. Or was it Steven's? I can't remember...you just have so many friends." She smiled. "I'm off to work. Oh, go pick up a dress for the Bronze party later this week. I left the credit card on the counter. Remember, don't spend as much as you did last time, okay?"

Buffy nodded, her head feeling fuzzy. "Okay, Mom." She threw her covers off and looked around. Her room _seemed_ the same, but...

Well, there were more clothes in the closet. And come to think of it, a lot more clothing. And there was more make-up than she owned on her vanity. And where was Mr. Gordo?

She shook her head, laughing as she saw Mr. Gordo at the bottom of her bed. "What was I worrying about?" Buffy asked the pig. "Nothing changed...really." Then she sighed. "I hope."

**\---**

It was a strange feeling that Buffy had, entering Sunnydale High School that morning. For one thing, the students didn't look to be in their normally dazed state. And for another, everyone wore crosses.

No one had worn crosses the day before.

Buffy shrugged and walked towards the library. Maybe it was one of those prayer vigils at the flagpole or something. Not that it mattered. She had about twenty minutes to talk with Giles and tell him about the weird girl from last night before she had to go to class.

And then she noticed just weird, little things as she began to run to the library. People who should have been dead, teachers who had left...they'd all done that a year before.

Great, now she was a year in the past.

She burst through the library doors, stopping a moment to catch her breath. "Giles, something strange has gone on, I got a visit last night from someone who could grant my wish and I wished I wasn't the Slayer anymore and this morning I wake up and not only is everything just plain _different_ but it's a year or two old."

Giles looked up from the musty book he was reading and stared at Buffy. "Young lady, what are you talking about? The fantasy section is to the left, and it's Mr. Giles, thank you."

Buffy stared at him for a moment before falling to the floor.


	2. Chapter 2

"It was the only way to make it work," Anyanka said to D'Hoffryn. "I would have gone back two years or she never would have come to Sunnydale. That place _needs_ a Slayer."

D'Hoffryn nodded, but he was still frowning. "I can see your reasoning, Anyanka, but the fact that you let a mortal decide another mortal's wish..."

"You told me to grant every wish I get sent to grant, and that was Cordelia's," Anyanka shrugged.

"Then you need to go fix things. Here." D'Hoffryn handed her another locket, and waved his hand over her face. Anyanka could feel her hair growing longer. "You no longer look the same; Buffy may trust you more easily. But this won't be an easy assignment, or a short one, and there is a lot to correct."

Anyanka nodded and clasped the amulet around her neck. "Same fail-safe as the others?"

"Only Buffy's wish activates it."

"Wish me luck."

"You've never needed it before, why should I wish it to you now?" were the last words Anyanka heard before flitting through dimensions again.

**\---**

Buffy woke up in Giles' office. She was _sure_ she hadn't heard what he had said. Positive...she'd bet money on it if she was a betting woman.

She walked out into the library's lobby and glanced at the group before her. There was Xander and Willow and Cordelia...and they were all glaring at her. Jonathan was there, and so were Harmony and Larry. "What's going on?" she asked weakly.

"I took a good look at the pendant you were wearing when you came into the library," Giles began. "You were under a spell. We took it off, but, alas, you're still here."

"Well, of course I'm here! I'm the Slayer!"

"No, I am," Larry said, testing the sight on the crossbow he'd been holding. "There's another one running around, but Faith's in Cleveland."

"You mean Slayers are guys and girls here?"

Larry nodded. "Yeah. Even though there's supposed to be one--"

"Will you shut up, Larry!" Willow hissed. "She isn't one of us. She's just a bitch who likes to win everything and take whatever she wants."

"Whoa, Will..."

"Only my friends call me Will," she said as Xander squeezed her hand.

Larry shook his head. "I think we can trust her." He tossed her a fighting staff. "Care for the practice?"

"Why not?" They moved to a practice area and began sparring. Buffy more than held her own; traveling between dimensions didn't seem to diminish her own Slayer skill even if her strength was sapped.

"Best work out I've had in a while," Larry said, taking a dish towel Giles had set on the counter and wiping his forehead. "You can really fight."

"Had the best teachers."

"Astonishing," Giles muttered, and even Xander, Cordelia and Jonathan agreed. Willow just continued to sulk.

"Well, let's do real introductions, then," Larry said. "This here's my boyfriend, Jonathan. Only openly gay couple in school and no one messes with us. Wonder why..." Jonathan and Buffy looked at each other and laughed. "Xander and Willow are joined at the hip, and Cordelia dates the bassist--"

"Guitarist," Cordelia corrected.

"So sorry. The guitarist for 'The Last Echo.'"

"Would his name be Oz?"

"Daniel, really," Cordelia said, "but yeah, he goes by Oz."

"How do you know about us?" Larry asked.

"Let's just say things are really similar at home..."

**\---**

Buffy listened while Harmony told her about who Buffy really was in this reality. Harmony occupied a position in the group that was unique; she was a friend of Buffy's as well as a friend of Larry's, so the group that spent so much time in the library wasn't ostracized. In fact, she had helped spearhead the cross campaign for the entire school.

Buffy was exactly like Cordelia had been, it turned out. Except for some reason different from sending her boyfriend to Hell, Buffy had left for the summer and come back, almost not being able to re-enter school. But she was back to being the Queen B in more ways than one, apparently, and that was why Willow hated her so much.

Of course, Willow hated everyone at the moment; Larry had had to send her lover Angel to Hell. Buffy almost fainted when she heard that one.

"So even though she's with Xander..." Buffy began.

"She still isn't over Angel. And I guess you were trying to flirt with him a lot."

"Oh." Buffy swallowed. "Where I was at, Angel was...he was..."

"Yours?"

"Yeah." Buffy thought of something. "Did he get his soul back before he was sent to Hell?"

"No. Willow was knocked unconscious and she's the only one who does magic. I mean, Jenny could have done it, but--"

"Jenny Calendar? She's alive?"

Harmony nodded. "Yeah. Giles got bit when he was saving her from Angelus. He's actually a vampire...notice how dark the library is? Giles never leaves it, except to go home after dark. Jenny got him with a spell not that long after Angelus made him a vamp. New & improved...no moment of happiness clause."

"Wow. I never imagined Giles as a vampire."

Harmony nodded. "This is the only place in the school where we don't wear our crosses. There are a few other non-human teachers too. Especially the new one."

"Who's he?"

"An English teacher, Mr. Doyle. He's from Ireland." The blonde giggled conspiratorially. "He's only half-demon. And he has visions. He's part of the team here, too...helped Larry save a few lives. And he's nice. And the accent...to die for."

Buffy smiled. This Harmony seemed so much nicer than the Harmony she already knew. No wonder they were friends here.

**\---**

She met Mr. Doyle after her English class, which she did pretty well in. Apparently, she was a fairly good student here, unlike where she was from.

"So. You're the lass that Giles told me about at break," he said, sitting on the desk in front of Buffy.

"Yup."

Doyle nodded. "Then call me Doyle. Only after class, though." He rubbed a hand through his black hair. "I'd thought that last vision was a strange one...hadn't felt the sense of anyone being in danger, just of major change. But I saw someone hand you a necklace."

"Like this one?" she asked, pulling the pendant Anyanka had given her out of a pocket. Harmony had given her a spare cross to wear in its place.

Doyle nodded again. "Aye, that's the one."

"Then maybe you saw what happened where I'm from."

This time Doyle shook his head. "'Fraid not. I see things in this dimension alone."

"So that means I'm getting another necklace?"

"I think so."

"Great..."


End file.
